Suction cleaner



March 16, 1954 H. B. WHITE SUCTION CLEANER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 21, 1950 m R .1 Y w W m N m m N I M I, A r I a \Q H W 1 V NNW /W I QN N a $1 om Q mm m mm a w? MN Q E J MN 2 r in E AVM T ow March 16, 1954 H. B. WHITE 2,672,210

SUCTION CLEANER Filed NOV. 21, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet .r a a E g i i i, s i a 2 a I i i INVENTOR. Harry B. W711i? I I A! I 1/ ATTORNEY.

March 16, 1954 w n- 2,672210 SUCTION CLEANER Filed Nov. 21, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 INVENTOB. Harry B. W/n'ze NEYV Patented Mar. 16, 1954 SUCTION CLEANER Harry B, White, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 21, 1950, Serial No. 196,913

Claims.

This invention relates to suction cleaners and more particularly to suction cleaners of the socalled tank or canister type in which the clean.- ing tools are connected to the suction creating and filtering unit by means of a flexible hose.

It has been proposed to use a disposable filter bag of an inexpensive material such as a filtering paper, in tank type cleaners so that the filter bag can be thrown away along with the dirt, each time the pores of the filter bag become clogged to such an extent as to impair the cleaning effectiveness of the cleaner.

Such inexpensive paper filter bags are usually fragile and require a backing of a stronger material which is also pervious to the fiow of air but impervious to the passage of dust particles therethrough.

One solution is the provision of a second filter bag made of a dust filtering cloth, pervious to air but impervious to the passage of dust in which the fragile paper filter bag is encased. The cloth filter bag is itself capable of separating dust and dirt from a moving air stream and especially the fine dust which may pass through the fragile paper filter bag. The cloth filter bag is thus capable of acting as the sole filter in the case where the fragile paper filter bag is unavailable or is unwanted.

Some users of tank or canister type suction cleaners prefer to use the disposable paper filter bag encased in the stronger cloth filter bag while others prefer to use the permanent cloth filter bag alone.

When the disposable paper filter bag is used encased within the more permanent cloth filter bag, the fragile paper filter bag must be periodically replaced. In such cases, it was found, that unless the inner or bottom end of the cloth filter bag is anchored, the cloth bag will be pulled outwardly with the disposable paper filter bag resulting in soiling of the cloth filter bag and requiring it to be replaced within the suction cleaner casing.

According to the present invention means have been provided for selectively anchoring the inner end of the permanent cloth filter bag so that when the cloth filter bag alone is used its inner end may be left free and when the fragile paper bag is used within the cloth bag the inner or bottom end of the cloth bag may be anchored to the cleaner casing.

According to one modification of the invention a separable fastener is provided between the bottom of the cloth bag and a bulkhead acessime from t e int rio o h cloth ba so.

that when the cloth bag alone is to be used it is merely necessary to reach into the interior of the cloth bag to release the separable fastener.

According to another modification of the invention a manually releasable anchor for the inner end of the cloth bag is provided with an operating mechanism accessible from the exterior of the cleaner casing whereby the inner end of the cloth bag may be anchored or released as desired.

According to another modification of the invention an anchor for the inner end of the cloth filter bag is provided which is automatically operable to anchor the inner end of the cloth bag when the end cap of the cleaner is opened and to automatically release it when the end cap is closed. Thus, when a disposable paper bag is used within the cloth bag the inner end of the cloth bag is free during cleaning operations and is automatically anchored when the end cap is opened whereby the disposable paper bag may be removed Without disturbing the cloth bag. When the cloth bag alone is used, the mechanism which is operable to anchor the inner end of the cloth bag when the end cap is opened may be manually operated to release the inner end oi the cloth bag whereby it may be removed to be cleaned or replaced.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a tank type cleaner with the walls partly broken away to show how one modification of the present invention is applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a side view of a tank type cleaner with the Walls partly broken away to show a second modification of the invention;

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken on line 33 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure l is a side view of a tank type cleaner with the walls broken away to show a third modie fication of the invention;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-2-5 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged detailed view of one of the anchoring elements of Figs. 4 and 5 taken on line 66 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, the cleaner to which all of the modifications of the present invention is applied comprises a casing l0 supported on runners H. The casing in is provided with a carrying handle l2 and with a removable suction end cap l3, pivoted at I4 to the lower edge of the casing l and locked in closed position by a releasable latch mechanism [5 of any suitable character. End cap I3 is provided with a female coupling member l6 for receiving a complementary coupling on the end of a flexible hose, the other end of which is connected to any suitable suction cleaning tool.

Housed within one end of the casing I0 is a motor-fan unit I! supported by means of a rubber ring [8 received in a recess in a bulkhead I9 welded or otherwise secured to the inner walls of easing H) as at 20. The bulkhead I9 is provided with a plurality of openings 21, for the passage of air therethrough, which openings are covered by a final filter 22.

Housed within the opposite end of casing 13 is a cloth filter bag 23 having a flanged ring 24 which is held against a flange of the end ring 25 welded or otherwise secured to the open end of the casing ID. The end cap [3, when closed, holds the flange 24 against the end ring 25. The cloth bag 23 is permeable to the passage of air but prevents the passage of dust therethrough.

A disposable paper filter bag 26 may be positioned within the cloth bag 23. The paper bag 26 may be provided with a flange to clamp between end cap l3 and flange 24 or it may be attached to the end cap l3 in any suitable manner.

In the first modification, shown in Fig. 1, the inner end of bag 23 has a comparatively rigid plate 21 suitably attached thereto. Centrally of plate 21 the male element 28 of a separable fastener is secured to the plate 21 by a threaded connection 29. The male element 23 is provided with a peripheral groove 30 which cooperates with a suitable spring detent mechanism 3! in the bore of the female element 32 suitably secured to the bulkhead [9. The female element 32 also serves to hold the filter 22 to the bulkhead IS. The plate 2'! may be made of fiber, paperboard or any light metal.

When the disposable paper bag 26 is in use the male element 28 is inserted into the female element 32 to anchor the inner end of the cloth bag 23 to the bulkhead l9 so that the paper bag may be easily removed and disposed of without disturbing or soiling the cloth bag 23.

When the cloth bag alone is used it is only necessary to open the end cap 13, grasp the connection 29 and pull to release the separable fastener whereby the cloth bag may be easily removed for cleaning or replacement.

It is understood that it is within the purview of the invention of Fig. 1 to reverse the arrangement and support the male member of the separable fastener on the bulkhead and to support the female member on the plate 21. It is also within the invention of Fig. 1 to provide any type of separable fastener, the only requirement being that it can be easily released when the inner paper bag is removed.

In the second modification, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the inner end of the cloth bag 23 is formed with an outwardly extending flange 33 to which is secured a stiff reenforcing ring 34, of fiber, paperboard or light metal. Welded or otherwise secured to the inner wall of casing are three brackets 35, 36 and 31, spaced 120 apart and pivotally supporting duplicate anchoring dogs 38 having hooked ends 39 which engage behind the flange 33 under certain conditions. At the end opposite the hook 39 each dog 38 is provided with an opening 40 to receive a substantially circular operating wire cam ring generally indicated by the reference numeral 4i. At each do the wire 4| is provided with stepped cams 42 and 43 spaced circumferentially, the cam 42 being positioned radially inwardly of the cam 43. The ends 44 of the ring extend radially downwardly through a slot 45 in the bottom of the casing Ill and are provided with an operating handle 46.

When the inner filter bag 26 is in use the handle 46 and ring 4| are moved counterclockwise, after the cloth bag is in place, which will move the outer stepped cam 43 into openings 43 to pivot the hooked ends 39 of dogs 38 inwardly to bring the hooked ends 39 behind flange 33 and anchor the inner end of cloth bag 23 whereby the paper bag 26 may be easily removed and replaced without disturbing or soiling the cloth bag 23.

When the inner disposal bag 26 is not in use, the handle 46 and ring 4! are moved clockwise to bring the stepped cam 42 into the openings 48, to pivot the hooked ends, 39 of dogs 33 outwardly and remove the hooked ends 39 from behind the flange 33 and thus release the inner end of the cloth bag 23 whereby the bag may be easily removed for cleaning or replacement.

In the third modification, shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, an inverted U-shaped operating link 50 is pivoted at 5|, to a pair of brackets 52, welded or otherwise secured to the inner wall of the casing in near the suction end thereof adjacent the end cap [3. The lower ends of the legs of the link 50 are twisted as shown in Fig. 4 and are provided with slots 53, which straddle a reduced portion 54 in a pair of plungers 55. The plungers 55 are supported for reciprocation by a pair of brackets 56 and 51, secured to and extending upwardly from the bottom of the casing l0. Compression springs 58 extend between brackets 56 and shoulders 59 to bias the plungers 55 outwardly so that their ends 60 will extend through openings 6| in the ring 25 so as to be contacted by the end cap [3 as it is closed.

At the bight of the U, the link 50 is provided with a loop 62, between the legs of which is pivoted one end of an operating link 63, the other end of which is pivoted to a dog 64 as at 65. The dog 64 is pivoted at 36, below the pivot 65 to a bracket 61 suitably secured to the inner wall of casing Ill.

Operating links 68 have their forward ends pivoted to the legs of the link 50 below the pivots 5|, as at 69. The other ends of the operating links 68 are pivoted at NJ to dogs 7|, which in turn are pivoted at 12 outwardly of the pivot 10, to the brackets 13 suitably secured to the inner Wall of the casing ID. The brackets '13 are circumferentially spaced from each other and from bracket 67 approximately The imier end of bag 23 is provided with an outwardly extending flange 14, reenforced by a stiff ring 15 of fiber, paperboard or light metal.

Each time the cover plate I3 is opened, the springs 58 force the plungers 55 outwardly, which pivots the link 50 counterclockwise. The upper operating link 63 will move to the left while the lower operating link 68 will move to the right, as viewed in Fig. 4, the latter moving to the right as viewed in Fig. 6. That will cause the dogs 34 and II to move behind the flange '14 on the inner end of the cloth bag 23 and thus anchor the inner end of the cloth bag 23 each time the end cap I3 is opened.

When the inner disposal paper bag 26 is used it may be easily removed without disturbing or soiling the cloth bag. Should it be desired to remove the cloth bag 23, as-when the disposable paper bag is not being used, it is only necessary to press inwardly on the plungers 515, manually, which will cause the link 59 to move clockwise, cause the operating link 53 to move to the right as viewed in Fig. 4 and cause the operating link 68 to move to the left as viewed in Fig. 4 and to the left as viewed in Fig. 6, which will move the dogs 64 and H from behind the flange 14 whereby the cloth bag may be easily removed for cleaning or replacement.

From the foregoing it can be seen that this invention provides an arrangement in which the inner end of a permanent cloth bag can be selectively anchored to the walls of the cleaner casing when an inner disposable paper filter bag is to be used and released for easy removal in case the inner disposable paper filter bag is not in use.

While I have shown and described but three modifications of my invention it is to be understood that these modifications are to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but to include all equivalent variations there except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner of the tank or canister type having a casing and an end cap for a large area inlet opening at the suction end thereof, a cloth filtering bag having its open end removably seated across said inlet opening, a disposable paper filter bag disposed within said cloth filter .bag and removable therefrom independently of said cloth bag, manually operable latch means for selectively anchoring the bottom of said cloth bag to said casing, said manually operable means including first means secured to the bottom end of said cloth bag and second means anchored to said casing, said first and. second means being selectively and manually engageable with each other to anchor the bottom end of said cloth bag to said casing and being manually disengageable to free the bottom end of said cloth bag from said casing whereby said paper bag may be removed from said casing when the bottom end of said cloth bag is anchored to said casing and the bottom end of said cloth bag may be released for removal of said cloth bag from said casing after the paper bag has been removed.

2. In a suction cleaner according to claim 1 including an air permeable bulkhead secured to the inner wall of said casing to the rear of the bottom end of said cloth bag and in which the second of said manually operable latch means is carried by said bulkhead.

3. In a suction cleaner according to claim 2 in which said manually operable latch means comprises a separable fastener, one part of which is carried by said bulkhead and the other part of which is carried by the bottom end of said cloth bag, latch means including means accessible from the interior of said cloth bag for separating the two parts of said separable fastener.

4. In a suction cleaner according to claim 1 in which said manually operable latch means is accessible from the exterior of said casing and is operable to selectively anchor the bottom end of said cloth bag to said casing or to release said cloth bag for removal from said casing.

5. In a suction cleaner according to claim 4 in which said manually operable means coacts with said end cap to anchor the inner end of said cloth bag as said end cap is opened, said latch means being manually operable when said end cap is open to release said cloth bag for re? moval from said casing.

6. In a suction cleaner according to claim 1 in which the first of said cooperating anchoring means includes a flange extending outward:- ly from the bottom end of said cloth bag and the second of said cooperating anchoring means includes latch members pivotally carried by the walls of said casing and movable to a position in front of said flange to lock said filter in place and being movable to a position free of said flange to permit removal of said cloth bag from said casing.

7. In a suction cleaner according to claim 6 including spring means for biasing said latch members to move in front of said flange and operating means accessible from the exterior of said casing for moving said latch members out of contact with said flange to permit removal of said cloth bag from said casing.

8. In a suction cleaner according to claim 7 in which said operating means is positioned to be actuated by the closing of said end cap to move said latch members to a position free of said flange.

9. In a suction cleaner according to claim 6 including operating means accessible from the exterior of said casing coacting with said latch members to move them away from said flange.

10. In a suction cleaner according to claim 9 in which said operating means includes a cam ring coacting with said latch members to move the same into and out of engagement with said flange, said ring having a portion extending through the walls of said casing so as to be accessible from the exterior thereof.

11. A suction cleaner including a casing having a large area inlet opening, an end cap therefor, a cloth bag in said casing with its open front end freely seated across said inlet opening so as to be removable therefrom when said end cap is opened, a disposable paper fllter bag in said cloth bag and removable therefrom independently thereof, a pair of cooperating anchoring means carried by the bottom end of said cloth bag and said casing respectively, one of said anchoring means being immovably anchored to said casing, said cooperating anchoring means being selectively operable to anchor the bottom end of said cloth bag to said casing to permit removal of said paper filter bag without disturbing said cloth bag and manually operable thereafter to release said cloth bag for removal from said casing.

12. A suction cleaner according to claim 11 in which said cooperating anchoring means includes a flange secured to the bottom end of said cloth bag and latch means pivoted to the inner wall on said casing, said latch means being movable into and out of engagement with said flange for the purpose of locking said bag in place and releasing it for free removal from said cleaner casing.

13. A suction cleaner according to claim 12 in which said operating means includes a cam ring coacting with said latch means and a control member extending through the wall of said casing so as to be accessible from the exterior thereof.

14. In combination with a suction cleaner of the tank type adapted for use selectively with a cloth filter alone and in combination with a paper filter nested within the cloth filter, said cleaner having a casing for a motor driven suction unit at one end and a filter chamber at its opposite end, said filter chamber having a large area opening at one end thereof, an open topped cloth filter bag having means at its open end for freely and removably seating the same across said casing opening, a paper filter bag adapted to be nested within said cloth filter and having an inlet adjacent said casing opening, an end cap normally seated across said casing opening and having an air inlet passage therethrough leading into said filter chamber, readily releasable latch means connected between the bottom of said cloth filter and said cleaner casing for normally locking said cloth filter in position in said filter chamber so that the same is not withdrawn from said filter chamber by frictional contact with said paper filter as the latter is withdrawn, and said releasable latch means being readily disconnectable to permit the removal of said cloth filter for emptying the dirt collected therein when said cleaner is used with said cloth filter by itself.

15. In combination with a suction cleaner of the tank type adapted for use selectively with a cloth filter alone and in combination with a paper filter nested within the cloth filter as the user elects, said cleaner having a casing for a motor driven suction unit at one end and a filter chamber at its opposite end, said filter 8 chamber having a large area opening at one end thereof, an open topped cloth filter bag having means at its open end for freely and removably seating the same across said casing opening, a paper filter bag adapted to be nested within said cloth filter and having an inlet adjacent said casing opening, an end cap normally seated across said casing opening and having an air inlet passage therethrough leading into said cloth and paper filter bags, manually operable readily releasable latch means within said cleaner casing for engaging the bottom of said cloth filter and holding the same in position in said filter chamber so that said cloth filter is not withdrawn from said filter chamber by frictional contact with said paper filter as the latter is withdrawn therefrom, said releasable latch means being adapted to be disengaged with the bottom of said cloth filter when said cleaner is used without a paper filter.

HARRY B. WHITE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,219,567 Spielman Oct. 29, 1940 2,325,188 Lofgren July 2'7, 1943 2,520,531 Cuddeback Aug. 29, 1950 

